[identity profile] mahnmut.livejournal.com
"Those who confront death". That's what the name Peshmerga means, the official designation of the armed forces of Iraqi Kurdistan. They'll soon have the chance to prove themselves at the battlefield once more. Earlier this month president Barzani requested from the local parliament to set a day for independence referendum. Of coruse, the central authorities in Baghdad are warning they'll use all means available to prevent that from happening.

The perfect storm that Iraq has immersed itself into, is far from over. The central government still has no adequate response to the ISIS advances which have taken over nearly 1/3 of the country's territory and announced the establishment of a Caliphate.

Naturally, the Kurds are not sitting on their hands, either. While ISIS is bracing itself for another assault on Baghdad, Peshmerga has taken the strategic city of Kirkuk and practically increased the territory of Iraqi Kurdistan by 40%. This way they outlined the desired boundaries of their future state, taking most Kurd-dominated territories. The dream for independence now looks closer than ever. But it'll need the approval of their neighbors.


Read more... )
[identity profile] underlankers.livejournal.com
At present in Ukraine, there are two main new developments.

First among them is yet another deal reached where the various outside factions promise hands-off. In this case, Russia stands to make still more significant concessions at the expense of Ukraine, this in spite of the escalation of the crisis in Ukraine by pro-Russian militias, who've been spreading a great amount of chaos in eastern Ukraine. Incidents like these indicate that the people who argued that Russia would not be satisfied to halt at Crimea but would escalate its demands were a bit more accurate than might have been hoped.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/17/pro-russian-militia-killed-storm-ukrainian-military-base

However, the Great Powers, in their collective wisdom, have negotiated a deal where Russia makes still further gains at Ukrainian expense, after incidents like these have led to bloodshed in cities like Donetsk and other parts of the more Russophone areas of Ukraine.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27072351

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/18/world/europe/ukraine-crisis/

Unfortunately, the new separatists have shown no inclination to accept this proposed deal, and this indicates that rather than calming down, the crisis may well be escalating to a more dangerous phase. And it's pretty clear at this point that Russia is pushing its goals further, which indicates that either Putin is really, really confident, really, really, arrogant or simply that he's unleashed forces that he thought he could control but proved incapable of mastering them.
[identity profile] luzribeiro.livejournal.com
In September there'll be an independence referendum in Scotland. And a couple of months later, another one in Catalunya. Secessionist movements are usually full of emotion and a desire for self-determination, but they're mainly driven by economic motivations - as is exactly the case with Catalunya and Scotland.

It seems the more prosperous regions are usually more prone to wanting independence. It's true that seceding could bring a drastic increase of social expenditure and extra taxes as a side effect, but the scope of that increase largely depends on the capital flows between the seceding region and the metropoly. There's nothing surprising in the fact that the presence of natural resources is often an important triggering factor for secession aspirations. If these resources occupy a relatively significant share of a region's exports, the probability for a secessionist push increases respectively. For example in Scotland the independence movement has gained momentum after the 60s when large oil deposits were found in the North Sea.


Read more... )
[identity profile] luzribeiro.livejournal.com
In light of the recent wave of wannabe secessionist movements around the world, inspired by brave Crimea, etc, I hereby invite you to detect which of the following pieces of news is the genuine one.



Gaza Strip also wants to join Russia

According to online reports, the treaty on Crimea being accepted into Russia has prompted the setting up of an initiative group that will draw up a proposal for the Palestinian enclave in Israel to hold a referendum on joining the Russian Federation, too. This is reported by the Russian-language version of the Palestinian Information Centre.

The 50K Russian brides who've been married to Palestinian dudes must be having a really heavy say in internal Gazanic(sic?) matters. But then again, it's no secret that Russian women are powerful and mightily influential, so... no surprise there.

Meanwhile, elsewhere... )
[identity profile] leonidstorch.livejournal.com
Originally posted by [livejournal.com profile] leonidstorch at Russian Invaders Are in the Crimea
The deed is done. Just as the Hitler's army invaded the Sudetenland in 1938, Putin has invaded the Crimea. This is no time for jokes, people. Forget about the Caribbean Crisis. We might be dealing with something even more serious now. The annexation of the Sudetenland also looked like a way to establish peace to many.

[identity profile] underlankers.livejournal.com
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26475508#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

So, the Crimea 'voluntarily' voted to join Russia. Leaving aside that in real-world terms this is as 'voluntary' as 1940 in the case of the Baltic States, this essentially kills any negotiation where Ukraine can expect any reasonable concession to the idea that its territorial mass should remain intact. While nationalism is a dangerous can of worms, and the idea that nationalities who are minorities in other countries are reasons to break those countries up are dangerous, the EU has zero room to protest on this issue. Kosovo has already set the precedent that if a part of one country has a significant minority of a nationality that belongs to another that breaking up said country is entirely acceptable. So at this point the West can only take refuge in hypocrisy. Major military force isn't an option because human error leads right into the prospect of a genuine nuclear exchange.

It does, however, seem that Putin's on the verge of another major diplomatic coup in the last few years.
[identity profile] luvdovz.livejournal.com
Everyone seems to be exercising their quills over the Ukraine/Crimea topic, so I thought, what the hell. Why not jump on the bandwagon? So here goes.


"That's utter bollocks", tovarisch Putin said on a press conference last December when he was asked if Russia would send troops to beautiful Crimea. The occasion: in the context of the emerging opposition protests in Ukraine at the time, some voices began advocating for a Russian military intervention. Now Putin seems to have changed the tune somewhat. "Unidentified" armed groups have seized buildings and airports around the southern peninsula, and the Russian flag floats above some of the local government premises. The new Ukrainian minister of the interior Arsen Avakov is now calling it a Russian military intervention. Various countries are flexing muscles and jumping on the outrage bandwagon, threatening Russia with war. And many observers are finding themselves scratching their heads, pondering how it has all come to this.

Context inside - because context matters )
[identity profile] abomvubuso.livejournal.com

Next year could bring the end of a 306 year old union, no less. If the proud Scots approve the split-away from the UK next autumn, that is. Such a decision would take effect on March 24, 2016, the Scots taking their bagpipes with them, their kilts, their whiskey, the Loch Ness monster, and going their separate way.

That's essentially what the long-awaited 670 page monster of a report compiled by Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond is saying. Its aim is to convince the Tartans that on September 18 next year they should say a resounding "Yes" to the divorce if they're to have their Freedom(TM) once and for all. Apparently, he still believes an independent Scotland could retain the British pound and the Queen, and remain part of the EU, while having its own defense forces and collecting its own taxes. You know, having the best of both worlds, kind of. Would be awesome, wouldn't it? If anyone lets them have any of it, that is.

In turn, the leaders of the "No" camp have already called the plan "fiction, full with nonsensical assertions". And David Cameron has commented, "We have been waiting a long time for this document. We were told it would answer every question and yet no answer on the currency, no answer on the question of EU membership, no proper answers on Nato - we are just left a huge set of questions and frankly, the Scottish people have also got the prospect of a J1,000 bill as the price of separation". More about this last bit, a little further down.

Read more )
[identity profile] underlankers.livejournal.com
http://freeadam.net/2013/05/24/adam-kokesh-march-50-state-capitols/

So that idiot who wanted to bring around 10,000 armed people to the Capital to provide a demonstration of willingness to 'defend' rights by provoking a firefight in the event that this demonstration without a permit had gone off now revealed his true colors.He's called for an army of secessionists to menace the United States. Except that this is the 21st Century. No army can menace a government that can spy on its enemies from space. No army can succeed in such an endeavor here, and if such idiocy must be unleashed, it is only justifiable if it can win its war that it sets for itself to fight. In the 21st Century no such thing like this is possible.

The people who agitate most loudly for the Second Amendment as a license to commit treason neglect that the Constitution empowers the Feds to use all due force in the event of a domestic insurrection. Of course I expect that there'll be a lot of comments to this arguing that his call for an army of treason to march on state capitals really isn't a call for that, that never say what it really is. That's predictable. So would be the prospect that once again, like that damn fool earlier in the Obama Administration that threatened to 'do something' if Obama didn't resign and Ted Nugent, who predicted he'd be dead by now that nothing at all happens. But this is why people can be and are skeptical of the so-called Second Amendment crowd. Because the right to keep and bear firearms is no guarantee against a tyranny these days, and any pretense it is will end up with a lot of dead people and a war already lost. And it's even more interesting how the people who damn Communists, Hamas, and Hezbollah, as well as the Taliban, also turn around during these kind of discussions and argue that they should emulate the folly of the people they hold as terrorists and the antithesis of freedom and of all that is best in humanity.
[identity profile] telemann.livejournal.com


Several officers in the Jersey City, New Jersey police department have been disciplined for their wearing a modified patch signifying the officers' participation in the pro-militia movement known as "The 3 percent."





The movement's name originates from the notion only 3 percent of the American colonists took up arms against the British. The three-percent movement promotes the idea that the federal government is plotting to take away the rights of American citizens and must be resisted, the ADL says on its website.1 They're a close knit group; and like any good right wing extremists, they even have their own flag and Facebook page!

The Jersey City group of 3 percenters lends some credence that far right extremist groups want a presence in law enforcement (cf. this maybe unsafe for work "advertisement"), state militias or even the United States military. The 3 percent movement also tends to identify with what's called the Oath Keepers movement, established in 2009 by Elmer Rhodes, a retired Army officer. Participants who are currently in law enforcement, or state militias or the US military swear an oath on ten specific commands they will not obey, including 6. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps. . *BLINK* Oath Keepers was started in 2009 by Elmer Stewart Rhodes, a retired Army officer.




Elmer Rhodes, founder of Oath Keepers

Rhodes' vision is simple—"It's the Constitution, stupid." He views the founding blueprint the way fundamentalist Christians view the Bible. In Rhodes' America, sovereign states—"like little labs of freedom"—would have their own militias and zero gun restrictions. He would limit federal power to what's stated explicitly in the Constitution and Bill of Rights; any new federal law affecting the states would require a constitutional amendment. "If your state goes retarded," he says, "you can move to another state and vote with your feet." The president would be stripped of emergency powers that allow him to seize property, restrict travel, institute martial law, and otherwise (as the Congressional Research Service has put it) "control the lives of United States citizens." The Constitution, Rhodes explains, "was created to check us in times of emergency when we are freaking out."

Much of this is familiar rhetoric, part of a continuous strain in American politics that reemerged most recently during the 1990s. Back then, a similar combination of recession and Democratic rule led to the rise of citizen militias, the Posse Comitatus movement, and Oath Keepers-type groups like Police & Military Against the New World Order. But those groups had little reach. Nowadays, through the power of YouTube and social networking, and with a boost from the cable punditry, Oath Keepers can reach millions and make its message part of the national conversation—furthering the notion that citizens can simply disregard a government they loathe. "The underlying sentiment is an attack on government dating back to the New Deal and before," says author Neiwert. "Ron Paul has been a significant conduit in recent years, but nothing like Glenn Beck and Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin—all of whom share that innate animus."2


Mother Jones' reporter Justine Sharrock interviewed a U.S Army participant in the Oath Keepers, a gentleman who wanted to be only IDed by his middle name of "Pray,"




Pfc. Lee Pray vows he'll fight to the death if a rogue US government "forces us to engage."

Pray (who asked me to use his middle name rather than his first) and five fellow soldiers based at Fort Drum take this directive very seriously. In the belief that the government is already turning on its citizens, they are recruiting military buddies, stashing weapons, running drills, and outlining a plan of action. For years, they say, police and military have trained side by side in local anti-terrorism exercises around the nation. In September 2008, the Army began training the 3rd Infantry's 1st Brigade Combat Team to provide humanitarian aid following a domestic disaster or terror attack—and to help with crowd control and civil unrest if need be. (The ACLU has expressed concern about this deployment.) And some of Pray's comrades were guinea pigs for military-grade sonic weapons, only to see them used by Pittsburgh police against protesters last fall.

Most of the men's gripes revolve around policies that began under President Bush but didn't scare them so much at the time. "Too many conservatives relied on Bush's character and didn't pay attention," founder Rhodes told me. "Only now, with Obama, do they worry and see what has been done. Maybe you said, I trusted Bush to only go after the terrorists.* But what do you think can happen down the road when they say, 'I think you are a threat to the nation?'"

In Pray's estimate, it might not be long (months, perhaps a year) before President Obama finds some pretext—a pandemic, a natural disaster, a terror attack—to impose martial law, ban interstate travel, and begin detaining citizens en masse. One of his fellow Oath Keepers, a former infantryman, advised me to prepare a "bug out" bag with 39 items including gas masks, ammo, and water purification tablets, so that I'd be ready to go "when the shit hits the fan."2


The Jersey City story this AM was a surprise to me. While I was pretty familiar with the Sovereign Rights movement, as well as the Oath Keepers, this was a new one. And for whatever and more than likely unfair reasons, I wouldn't have expected such a group in a large urban area like northern New Jersey. The nature of the lexicon of all these right wing groups is interesting to follow. It's like a trip into a Twilight Zone episode, bizzaro land. Sure, some of the Alex Jones conspiracy stuff is easy to laugh off, and I'm not sure if Mr. Rhodes is just a good snake-oil salesman who found a quick and easy way to make a lot of money. From what I have read so far, I agree with the assessment reached by Justine Sharrock: I've toggled between viewing them either as potentially dangerous conspiracy theorists or as crafty intellectuals with the savvy to rally politicians to their side. The answer, I came to realize, is that they cover the whole spectrum.



For a fun read, check out this 3 percent blog "The Sipsey Street Irregulars."

1. Jersey City police brass identify a pro-militia clique in the department and say they've been stopped by Michaelangelo Conte, published on New Jersey.com on April 29, 2013.

2. Oath Keepers and the Age of Treason
by Justine Sharrock, published on Mother Jones March 2010.

[identity profile] underlankers.livejournal.com
Evidently people in the United States have learned nothing from the last time a bunch of butthurt reactionaries tried to ragequit the United States after losing an election they made a lousy job of contesting:

A global link poutpourri )

So there you have it, a broad poutpourri of the news of the present. Much of this is a repeat of what has gone before, leading to a simple question here: why is it that so much of what's already been seen keeps repeating itself? Haiti having another food crisis is easy to foresee, its infrastructure was already poor enough before the big earthquake and then damaged worse and the storm making it worse is no help. The European riots are a "Do you actually have an alternative? If not, stop that shit you're not helping" thing to me, and Israel playing the USA against Hamas's Al-Qaeda is a 'ho-hum' thing. I do, however, find it heavily ironic that people in the United States are once again so butthurt over losing an election they actually want to walk out. Then again, this is a country where people genuinely think the Devil made dinosaurs to offend the faith of Christians, so yeah. Ultimately I think what these stories show also is that some issues have deep roots, and that where multiple crises in a short time happen, the roots are unaffected and events repeat themselves, while elsewhere people learn nothing from the past and damn themselves to repeat it.
[identity profile] peristaltor.livejournal.com
The Wife™ and I have made a decision. We are no longer going to buy Amish products.

Speaking of, an old neighbor told the story of going in to a local hardware store for something and being forced to wait. The cashier looked at the line, gestured the two women in at the rear of the queue to come forward and said, "Penises wait!"

And speaking further of, some web site running dude had a bit of a hissy fit the day after the election, resulting in a life-changing decision:

If I meet a Democrat in my life from here on out, I will shun them immediately. I will spit on the ground in front of them, being careful not to spit in their general direction so that they can't charge me with some stupid little nuisance law. Then I'll tell them in no un-certain terms: "I do not associate with Democrats. You all are communist pigs, and I have nothing but utter disgust for you. Sir/Madam, you are scum of the earth." Then I'll turn and walk the other way.


So, what gives with all the shunning? )

We are social beasts, and being social sometimes means living with—and tolerating—differences. No, no one is going to force you to accept everything, just as we won't expect to understand your little weirdnesses anytime soon. But shunning all? That's a bit extreme.

Good thing there are caves in the wilderness ready for habitation, right?
[identity profile] abomvubuso.livejournal.com
So far, South Sudan has been the last country to join the list of sovereign states, after the independence referendum from last year. But now Scotland looks more likely than ever to become the new kid on the block. It all started when the Scottish National Party won the majority in the local parliament in May. And their manifesto openly declares that Scottish independence is their number 1 priority. Scotland's "First Minister", Alex Salmond is a staunch nationalist, and now his efforts to call a referendum on the issue have reached success, because the central authorities in London have just announced they wouldn't mind having such a public vote.


^ An authentic rendition of the Scottish referendum...

Blimey! Where'd all that Freeeedooom come from!? )
[identity profile] nairiporter.livejournal.com

Red, white, and green. With a sun in the middle. This is the Kurdish flag, and it is proudly flying in many towns in North Syria. The Syrian government troops have withdrawn from the region to concentrate on the battles in the key cities Damascus and Aleppo in the south. But the vacuum was not filled with troops from the Free Syrian Army, the armed opposition fighting Assad. Instead, a deal was made between the Syrian opposition and the Kurdish government in autonomous North Iraq. At least for the duration of the conflict. Although the Syrian opposition so far chooses to ignore or outright reject the Kurdish aspirations for self-determination (in Syria), at a political level.

Read more... )
[identity profile] htpcl.livejournal.com
Privet, comrades! Greetings, politics junkies! I'm sure you know pretty well that the Russian blogosphere is full of self-proclaimed genius political experts. Especially geopolitics experts! Well, here's the latest gem of a geopolitical column called Obozrevatel (granted, it's Ukrainian, but still... Ukrainians, Russians... they're the same sort of Ivans).

Behold Europe of 2035, as per the surveys of CIA/KGB/Mossad/whatever:


OMFG, KONSPIRRSSY!!!!!

No, actually it's a crazy bold rambling prediction of a raving lunatic political expert about what Europe and this part of the world at the wrong side of the Big Water might be looking like in, say, two decades (??) So let's peer into all that crazy, shall we?

We're forever condemned to living in Interesting Times™... )
[identity profile] essentialsaltes.livejournal.com
A Republican candidate for state senate in Iowa has thrown in the towel... in order to take up her position as US Senator in the real US government. Or maybe they're all playing games that are about one half-step short of sedition and treason.

"And Remember This! Where the de jure Republic of The United States of America exists the de facto UNITED STATES CORPORATION, having no standing, must go away!"

"By serving as your Senator in The Republic Congress, I am restrained to voting in line with Our Republic for The United States Constitution, which by the way does not contain the 14th Amendment or any thereafter"

Whew. Thank lack-of-god, she can't vote!



ETA: There have always been disgruntled Americans frustrated by 'what's wrong with the country'. Some of them give up and just stop voting. Some of them hole up in bunkers with guns. Some of them join movements more or less political, from the Tea Party to the Occupiers. All of these tactics strike me as more or less valid, and more or less nutty. This current effort to establish a new government (under the color of restoring an old one) does strike me as tantamount to sedition. I think they have crossed the line from nutty to dangerous.

People can and do convince themselves to sincerely believe bizarre things. When agents of one legitimate government bump into agents of the other legitimate government, I can foresee a one-sided, but no less tragic, 'civil war'.
[identity profile] ddstory.livejournal.com
Ah, Tyrol. That highland of long white socks, short pants, curled mustaches, broad hats with feathers in them, big Alp-horns, Jodler songs, and beer... Lots of beer!


Just when you thought Europe is all about being "united in diversity", Unions, unified currency, no borders, and shared values, comes this...

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,819430,00.html

"Many in northern Italy have long wanted to secede. Now, the euro crisis is giving the separatist movement new momentum, with the rich north unwilling to pony up for the poor south. Prime Minister Monti's efforts to exert control may be making matters worse."

South Tyrol is feeling slighted and is getting pissed with Italy, and they want out. Well, at least some of them. They've even set a price tag to their "complete freedom" (as if such a thing exists). 15 billion euros. A nice bail-out for Italy, you'd say. Well, not nearly enough to deal with Italy's problems, but still. The very fact the idea exists and is gaining supporters, speaks a lot.

How about an EU consisting of 47 (or 57) countries rather than 27. And why would that matter, since it's gradually going towards further integration? Weird Euros, indeed.

Well, it's not so simple, but you already knew that )

[identity profile] ddstory.livejournal.com
Let's talk about other-countries-that-don't-matter again. This time Belgium. The tiny non-state that has had a non-government for a year and a half (until a couple months ago). How come it still exists as a country? You'd think it should've fallen apart long time ago. It's divided into Flanders and Wallonia, the North and the South, and they don't talk to each other. And meanwhile that same country hosts the HQ of the EU, whose idea is unification. But beyond the walls of the EU parliament, where people talk about union and hash out ways to work together, on the streets of Brussels and all across Belgium, ethnic division reigns, language quarrels rage, and division has gripped by the throat a people divided into two peoples. How come?


Warning: extremely TLDR! Read at your own peril! )
[identity profile] dv8nation.livejournal.com
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14774526

A small Italian town of just under 600 has declaired independence from Italy. They even had issued their own money.

After all, the mayor says, Italy was once made up of dozens of principalities and dukedoms. As he says, the landlocked republic of San Marino still manages to survive, so why not Filettino?


Now I don't think that Italy is in any danger of breaking up. In fact, other than giving the wold yet another reason to laugh at the Italian government I don't think much will come of this. The Italian government will quitely wait for the media attention to go away and then tell the town to knock it off or see how they like trying to get along without any money from the government. Or, if they feel like playing hardball, electricty.

Still, stunt or not this has to be one of the inovative protests I've seen in a while. It's a good, hard slap to the boys in Rome who'll be forced to do SOMETHING lest a horde of Italian Rick Perrys start cropping up.

Let's all raise a glass to creative thinking! 
[identity profile] devil-ad-vocate.livejournal.com
“Texas is a unique place. When we came into the union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that." - Rick Perry, April 15, 2009. Nope, the state entered the union with the ability to divide into five states, not withdraw. And the U.S. Supreme Court decided in 1869 (Texas v. White) that Texas cannot secede (again).

In 2007 Rick Perry issued an executive order requiring all sixth-grade girls to have a three-shot vaccination series (costing about $120 per shot). Gardasil, a preventative for cervical cancer, was made by Merck - which was pushing legislatures to put forward bills mandating the vaccine for preteen girls. Perry's former chief of staff was a lobbyist for Merck; the ex-staffer's mother-in-law was a sitting state representative and director of Merck's advocacy group. Needless to say, all hell broke loose. The state legislature overwhelmingly overturned Perry's executive order. In response to criticism of a government mandated vaccine, Perry's comment was: "That piece of legislation was not mandatory, in the sense of when you can say no, something's not mandatory." I wonder what his definition of "is" is.

Texas, South Carolina, Indiana, and Florida are the four weakest states when it comes to gubernatorial power. Perry's power as governor is divided among other elected Texas officials. Even Sarah Palin had more individual power as a governor.

This guy was a professional politician as a Democrat, and he's refined it as a Republican. Sucking up to the Religious Right, he has tried to appoint people to the Texas Board of Education who are committed to the teaching of "intelligent design" in schools. The state legislature, which is Republican-controlled, has had to consistently remind Perry that he doesn't run the show.

Whether you are a moderate conservative or Tea Partier, be aware that Perry can be expected to check which way the wind is blowing to keep his hair and political fortunes in place.

He has been trying to picture his youth as living on the brink of poverty in windblown West Texas. Rick, I grew up during the same era - not ten miles from you. We both drank the same gyp water from Stink Creek. I knew the same people, and knew your kinfolk. It wasn't the dust bowl of the 1930's; maybe you weren't rich, but you sure as hell weren't poor.

Links:
http://www.texasmonthly.com/2010-06-01/feature9.php
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1891829,00.html
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/07/legislature/4528909.html

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